sump

[karazy]

ok, so ive been thinking and ive realised that i would really like a sump for my 29 gallon reef. i have already bought my tank,b ut nothing else exept for lights,a nd i can probably get a reef ready or drilled tank and use either a 10 or a 20 as a sump, and knowing me id find some use for my 29 thats not drilled. so heres the thing. i dont know a whole bunch bout sumps, but im learning. another factor of me getting a sump is i am only 12, but i have been helping with tanks ever since i was aobut 2. this is my first sw tank and i want it to turn out good. please, i would love to hear your thoughts on this

[Ricker]

I am really not sure how to make them work. But I know how to semi build them..

[karazy]

i think i basicaly know how they work, i just kinda want some suggestions on if i should do it, if i should use an overflow or a reef ready,ect.

[karazy]

heres basicaly what i would consider my sump to be like if i got one. i would have a light fyi

[Ricker]

Well having a sump has many added bonus. can hide heaters, no HOB. But disadvantage is . Need a place to hide it. If not it is not nice to look at.

[karazy]

so urs is a reef ready ricker? and im maybe going to try to make my own stand so i will amke it to accomadate a sump

[Ricker]

What my tank?

[karazy]

um, my bad, read the message wrong

[Scuba Kid]

There are a few ways you can go with it. Getting a reef ready tank is definitely a plus, but you probably won't find too many regular 29 gallon tanks with a built-in overflow or something like that. One route you can go is getting an overflow box, which is plumbed down to your sump. This might be a route to consider.

FYI, you can't really use a refugium for quarantine. Since your sump is obviously a part of your main tank system, the only quarantine you could use it for is if you want to separate whatever livestock you put in there. Disease is another story.

[karazy]

ya, basicaly what i meant by quarentine is just a place to put fish for a week or so before i add them to the main tank, so they acclimate well, or if i have something that is bullying other fish i can put him in there for the time being. also about the reef ready tanks, my lfs (riverfront aquariums) just got alot of tanks in and i saw they have quite a few smaller sizes of reef ready. if not i would probably go with the overflow box idea, but i find the reef ready to be better in my oppinion

[CollegeReefer]

Take a look at these two videos.

D.I.Y sump part 1

D.I.Y sump part 2

There are many different was to set up a sump/refuge. Check this great DIY website.

Melevsreef.com

Hope this helps point you in the right direction

[karazy]

the movies were pretty good, exept they didnt rally mention anything about a pump to get the water from the sump into the tank, but know ill go tot he website!

[CollegeReefer]

The pump needed all depends on your overflow. You need to take how much your overflow will drop and match that with a pump that can push close to that much water at whatever height is needed. You need to look at the head chart of the pump. Also it is wise to note that you are going to want the pump to pump less then the overflow rather than more for if the pump pumps more it will overflow your main display and drain your sump where as if the pump is less the overflow will only drop the water at the rate of the return pump.

[karazy]

by over flow do u mean overflow box or overflow as in something i dont know about?

o, and i dont understand how an overflowbox pulls water out of the tank

[Scuba Kid]

An overflow just works with gravity, basically. Some have them built in or some you can buy separate that hang in the tank (a separate overflow box). Basically, as the water drains over the overflow, it goes into the sump and returns to the tank via the return pump. Get it? "Over" "Flow."

Here's an example of a built in overflow.



and this is an overflow box that is designed to sit inside the tank:

[karazy]

ooo. ok, now i get it. so a reef ready is basicaly a tank with a built in overflow that has a hole in the bottom. now, not alot of places say much about reef ready tanks, so for the over flow do u just leave that hole empty, or do u attach like pvc to the hole in the botom and bring it to the top of the overflow?

[karazy]

ok, so i went to riverfront today and looked at the tanks there. all the reefready exept one 50 were gone but i realised, it would be too hard to make your own reef ready tank,would it?

[CollegeReefer]

As long as the tank is not tempared you can drill it, install a bulkhead, and and skimmer, however you would need an empty tank for that.

Over flow box: (from madisonreef.com)



Drilled tank with custom surfice skimmer (from madisonreef.com)





You can make your own overflow box very easlily and for only about 20 bucks depending on what you have laying around. Otherwise you can buy one for 50 to 150 dollars. This one is the cheapest i can find. Eshopps Overflow Boxes

Otherwise like i said you can also drill your tank. All you need is to make sure you don't have a tank that is tempared glass. The drill bit you use has to be a dimond hole saw. In that video it shows how he drills the sump. As for the surfuce skimmer all you need is glass or aclric cut and then silconed into place. Normally you place it a quarter of an inch under where you want your water line to be.

Hope this helps a bit in your project.

[karazy]

so ive decided that if i do a sump i want it drilled. now i dont know if my tank is tempered or not, so ill probably try to get an untempered tank and take it to a glass shop and get it drilled there. is it hard to find untempered tanks?

[Ricker]

call the company that made your tank and see what kind of glass it is.